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Monday, September 29, 2008

In defense of Kendra, Bridget and Ho-lly

I happened across “The Devil Wears Prada” on HBO over the weekend. I had seen it in theatres two years ago but had then focused more on the fashion than on the storyline or the acting. This time I was less distracted and also a great deal less impressed. It really isn’t a good movie. And the choices made by the Anne Hathaway character in the end made no sense at all.

Oh I got the romantic notions at the heart of the story. But the character development was so flawed that when she eventually did the honorable thing and went back to her flannel-wearing, grilled-cheese making boyfriend, her decision made not a lick of sense. It would have been far more plausible had she sold her soul to the Devil.

And at a time when Ms. Hathaway would probably prefer to be hiding in shame as a result of developments in her personal life, she and her wide open smile have been deployed to help market yet another film. One about somebody getting married. One I will probably wait for cable.

The story from her personal life is that Ms. Hathaway spent the past four years dating a supposedly wealthy Italian businessman named Raffaello Follieri. Mr. Follieri is not by any measure an attractive man. In fact, with his weak chin and wonkyish left eye, he is actually as plain as dirt.

That this rather plain-looking man could attract a woman as stunning as Ms. Hathaway meant only one thing to me. He had to be extremely wealthy. And he apparently was. After all, he lived in a posh part of Manhattan and paid around $34,000. a month in rent. Can you even begin to fathom the kind of luxury in which one can be cocooned for $34,000. a month? I honestly can’t. Ms. Hathaway and her Italian lover enjoyed the opulent lifestyle of the rich and famous complete with jet setting, spree-shopping, and fine dining. Until it all came crashing down when he was exposed for being a con man.

What I’ve never understood is why Ms. Hathaway has borne no criticism for being a woman with a price, a woman whose beauty and body could be purchased by the wealthiest bidder. Really, for being just a common slut.

I genuinely fail to see the difference between women like Anne Hathaway and the three ‘girlfriends’ of the wealthy and elderly Hugh Hefner. There was a time when Mr. Hefner was an attractive, virile man. That was many moons ago. Now he is 82 years old and well past his prime. And yet, not unlike Raffaelo Follieri, Mr. Hefner has managed to procure the companionship of not one but three attractive women. [The oldest of the three claims to have a master’s degree in psychology but apparently always had a dream of being a Playboy Bunny. And with the influence of her aging Lothario, her dream came true.]

And now the Daily Telegraph is claiming that Hef, as he is affectionately known, (or “Puffin” if you’re his Ho Madison) – has been told that he has to cut back on expenses. The current problems on Wall Street mean that not only can your middle-income American no longer afford a sub-prime mortgage, but apparently neither can Hef afford the bill for his stable of blondes. And the bimbos have reportedly been jumping ship faster than you can say “Viagra anyone?”

It makes perfect sense to me that a woman who sells her sexual and companionship services to the wealthiest bidder, would bail when the source of her affluent lifestyle starts running out of money. This does not necessarily mean that she doesn’t care for the old fart. But beauty, especially of the skin-deep type produced with the assistance of a scalpel, does not come cheap. And if the old fart can no longer afford you, well then it’s time to find someone who can. No hard feelings, just a slut doing what a slut’s gotta do.

But no one has called Ms. Hathaway a slut. Somehow she has managed to become a wronged woman who just happened to spend four years living in the lap of luxury paid for primarily by her con man. Never mind the fact that she helped him to develop his Follieri Foundation, and even served on its board of directors. Never mind that she did not end the relationship with Mr. Follieri until his non-profit organization came under investigation by the IRS in June 2008, days before he was arrested for fraud. Somehow she has managed to be portrayed as the innocent beneficiary of her lover’s stolen funds. But Kendra, Bridget, and Ho Madison are regarded as common sluts.